cover image You Be Good & I'll Be Night: Jump-On-The-Bed Poems

You Be Good & I'll Be Night: Jump-On-The-Bed Poems

Eve Merriam. Morrow Junior Books, $16 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-688-06742-7

Like Merriam's Blackberry Ink , this collection of cheerful, rollicking rhymes is sure to be a favorite. These are not sleepy bedtime poems, but bouncy, jingling verses guaranteed to please lively children who should be ready to ``turn out the light / and close their eyes'' by the time they reach the quiet last page. There are nonsense rhymes (``You be saucer, / I'll be cup, / piggyback, piggyback, / pick me up'') and stories (``Harriet by magic force / turned herself into a horse''). There are loving poems (``You're my safety, / you're my pin, / hold me close / and fasten me in'') and rowdy chants (``Skip in a circle, / skip in a square / lost my shoe / don't know where''). The illustrator of The Brave Little Toaster , Schmidt creates bright, exuberant watercolors, the perfect accompaniment for Merriam's joyful music. Ages 3-7. (August)